Load Shedding (and new pics)

As an addendum to my previous blog, “48 Hours in Zululand,” here are the accompanying photos.

At various times during our trip, we joined with South African residents in experiencing rolling blackouts or “loadshedding.” Traffic lights were inoperable. Lights and air conditioning went off — one side of a shopping mall was dark — although some stores still allowed customers in(!). ATMs were out of business.

The current infrastructure, much of it in disrepair, simply cannot keep up with the demand for electricity. Although these outages are “scheduled,” it doesn’t always go according to plan. It’s hurting businesses, many of which have been forced to use generators. But generators are expensive and most small businesses cannot afford them.

For South Africans, it’s a major issue, often resulting in violent protests. For us, it was a minor inconvenience, particularly in that the outages play havoc with the already slow internet. Signals bounce around the sky and routers reboot. Thus, my photos were nearly impossible to upload but here they are now…

Cathedral Peak resort in the midst of the Drakensberg Mountains

Many activities at Cathedral Peak including lawn bowling.

The roof is charred which keeps the bugs away. There were small windows for to let the smoke out.

The garden provided food for the family and herbs for the offerings to the ancestors.

In the round hut, the men went to one side and the women the other.

Lighting herbs to call forth the ancestors.

Next visit was to the rural school.

The precious preschoolers were very curious about us. Very well behaved and they sang a song for us!

We saw many children walking to school (some walk for many miles). All proudly wore crisp, clean uniforms.

Long walks to school

The government distributes cash to pensioners once a month, resulting in pop-up markets.

Heading home from the market

Heading home from the market

Adding a rock to the cairn for safe travels.

We saw many people carrying water from the rivers.

Unfortunately, many areas are experiencing severe drought.

Barrels are stacked along the roads waiting for the municipal water trucks to fill them.

This pretty young lady was filling buckets for home.

The clay on her face is natural sunscreen.

This bridge was stripped of the bars so the metal could be used or sold somewhere else.

Like many other areas, the busy-ness of the CBD greatly contrasted…

with the “suburbs.”

We began seeing piles of rocks in the road.

Evidently, residents of a local town were violently protesting the lack of service distribution — water and electricity.

They had taken out a bridge in protest and we were forced to travel around on some pretty rough roads.

We passed through many impoverished areas.

Right in the middle of impoverished area, was the controversial $17 million bill for “upgrades” to President Zuma’s compound, built to house his six wives and entourage.

President’s controversial compound.

We were greeted at the gate to Simanye and asked to park our car in a nearby neighbor’s sugar cane field.

The 4km to the lodge was rough and heavily rutted. It took us 45 minutes to get down the hillside!

Our hosts, manager Lackie and his assistant, Henry.

The huts were charming.

And very comfortable inside. Unfortunately, we had no water but we made due.